Monday 14 December 2015
Hours after the start of 20-day Vaikunda Ekadasi festival, unidentified persons hacked the official website of Sri Ranganathaswamy Temple, Srirangam, in the early hours on Saturday.
The hacking came to light when devotees were trying to get information on the website,www.srirangam.org. It displayed messages supporting Kashmiri terrorists and Pakistan.
On information, the temple authorities blocked the page. The website, which was designed and maintained by a private company on behalf of the temple, was restored around 11 a.m. on sunday.
P. Jayaraman, Joint Commissioner, Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowment, told that "all data and information were safe". The website was successfully restored within a few hours. It would continue to provide information to people as usual.
The temple administration would take all possible steps to protect the website from hacking and experts have been asked to study the issue in detail, he said.Cyber police suspect that some Pakistan-based hackers could have hacked the website, which was temporarily suspended.
A formal communication is expected to be sent through the State CB-CID which is the nodal agency to liaise with the Interpol. Consequent to the hacking, the Srirangam police had registered a case under IPC section 504 (Intentional insult with intent to provoke breach of the peace) read with Sections 43 and 66 of the Information Technology Act on a complaint from the temple’s Joint Commissioner.
The sources said the website’s administrator was based in Madurai. The hacking took place at a time when the Tiruchi City Police had drawn up a detailed security scheme for the temple in connection with the ongoing Vaikunta Ekadasi celebrations.
Exactly a year ago, the website of the Thanjavur Maharaja Serfoji Saraswathi Mahal’s official website was hacked. Although the Thanjavur district police registered the First Information Report, the case was subsequently transferred to the CB-CID, said police sources.
Commissioner of Police, Tiruchi city, Sanjay Mathur told that an Inspector attached to the Cyber Crime wing had been asked to inquire into the complaint.
The temple authorities had been asked to strengthen the security features of the website.
